<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Buried Treasure by Teralina</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25222357">Buried Treasure</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teralina/pseuds/Teralina'>Teralina</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>None - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>I didn't even get to kill anyone this time, I have no idea what I'm doing at it shows, Posting for archival purposes only</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:55:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,032</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25222357</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teralina/pseuds/Teralina</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A man spends most of his adult life coming beaches with a metal detector, searching for the ultimate buried treasure. And then he finally finds it.</p><p>I completely blame RM for this atrocity.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>None</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Buried Treasure</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Neil Kendleson took a deep drag from his cigarette, his head bobbing as if the beeps and crackles from his metal detector were actually catchy music notes. The salty water of the beach would occasionally lap at his bare ankles, but he could hardly be bothered to notice.</p><p>The beach was surprisingly empty for such a beautiful summer day. The sun was high in the sky, shining down it's golden rays across the white sand. The occasional bikini clad tan chaser and castle-building child looked up at Neil as his shadow crossed them, but the typical crowds stayed away that day.</p><p>Not that the treasure hunter minded at all. All those cars and surfers and beach bunnies merely got in his way anyway. Nothing but obstacles and distractions. Granted, some of them also dropped money for him to find, and he affectionately patted his jingling, coin-filled pocket in thanks to their carelessness, but a few pennies and nickels weren't his true goal. Neil wanted to find real treasure.</p><p>Pirates weren't the only ones to hide their valuables in the soft grainy soil of the beach. For thirty years, Neil had been seeking the ultimate jackpot, and he knew he would find it some day. He just had to be persistent. The other stuff he found on his weekend journeys, the coins, jewelry and random trinkets, were simply encouragements.</p><p>The beep of detection, when it finally came, was loud and solid. Neil had never heard his machine make such a noise before. Without bothering to look at his meters, he carefully set the machine aside and knelt down into the sand. Strapped securely to his leg was a portable shovel, which his quickly pulled free and began to frantically dig.</p><p>It took only a few scoops before he heard a thunk and felt his blade strike something solid. Neil felt his heart jump into his throat, his ears filling with the rapid beat of his own pulse. Had he finally found what he was looking for?</p><p>More sand was scooped away and flung in random directions over his shoulder and a large trunk began to appear, it's dark chocolate-colored leather in stark contrast to the polished white sand grains surrounding it. Impatience made Neil toss his shovel aside and begin digging with his hands, throwing and pushing aside great piles of sand to expose the entire top of the trunk. It looked to be in surprisingly good shape for being buried at a beach.</p><p>Grabbing a handle, he rose back to his feet and tugged. The beach was not eager to release it's prize, but Neil pulled again, shifting it from side to side until he finally worked the trunk loose and managed to pull it free from its shallow resting place.</p><p>Once again sinking to his knees, Neil brushed a few lingering grains of sand from the top of the trunk and looked at it closely. It had felt heavy when he pulled it and he wondered what could possibly be inside. He hoped it wasn't a dead body.</p><p>The trunk itself was old fashioned, dyed leather stretched across a heavy metal framing with simple brass clasps to hold it closed. He had seen many similar in design in his childhood, even used them for suitcases a time or two when going on vacation. He ran a hand across the dark brown leather. It was cool to his touch and almost felt brand new. It couldn't possibly have spent much time in the surf, but it was close enough to the water that it must have gotten wet at least once during a rising tide.</p><p>One of his hands moved to flip the first clasp open, but then he stopped and looked around. Whether he found a corpse or gold, he didn't want too many witnesses. He needn't have worried, however, the stretch of beach he found himself on was empty as far as his eyes could see. Despite the perfect weather, the tourists had other places to be, apparently.</p><p>Turning his attention back to the trunk, he nervously until both of the clasps holding the lid closed, and then nervously cracked it open a tiny bit. No stench of rot assaulted his nostrils, so the chance of having found a victim of the mob was minimal. Feeling braver, he flipped the lid complete open and looked in for his new-found booty, his heart-beat becoming thunder in his ears while his imagination blurred with possibilities.</p><p>A pair of shiny black eyes stared back up at him. The teddy bear took up most of the space in the otherwise empty trunk. It's brown fur was worn and thin, a few threadbare patches covered spots that had needed repair at some point in time. A faded red ribbon with white polka dots wrapped around its neck and formed a bow just beneath it's pointed snout. On the bottom of one paw was a tattered embroidered heart that was barely held on by a few loose threads.</p><p>Neil looked down at the worn bear and his mouth made an O of surprise. For several long seconds, toy and man simply stared at each other silently. Suddenly Neil's vision began to blur as tears began to gather. He tried to blink them away but more formed to replace them.</p><p>“I can't believe it.” Neil said as he reached in and lifted up the stuffed bear. He held the old toy up into the light, a smile of childish glee crossing his face. “How is this possible?” He asked the silent toy. “Teddy! I thought for sure you'd been lost forever when the old house burned down. How are you here? How did you-” His voice choked up and the question would forever go unasked.</p><p>Neil pulled the treasured bear to his chest and hugged it tightly. “I did it.” He squeaked out, tears of joy pouring down his cheeks to dampen the old teddy bear's fur. “I finally found my treasure.”</p><p>Abandoning both the trunk and his metal detector, Neil began to run up the sand dunes and away from the beach, tightly clutching his buried treasure and feeling like the wealthiest man in the world.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>